Woolite - yes or no?

[bike4ever]

No to Woolite on cycling apparel.

[Eden]

I've been using Biokleen. I like it, its safe, natural, smells only vaugely of citrus (it has grapefruit extracts I think), gets my cycling clothing nice and clean/fresh and you don't have to use much of it. Before that I was using Ecover for delicates

[PinkPilot]

A resounding NO on the Woolite with Pearl Izumi. I have a very meticulous friend in NJ who thought he was doing the best possible thing using Woolite on PI shorts and they fell apart on him in under a year. Fortunately, he wrote to PI and they ended up sending him two brand new pairs, but also pointed out their washing instructions which do not include Woolite.

[Rumblefish]

Woolite is alright...I use it primarily for hand washing stuff if I have to. I do think Woolite has a bloated ego though.....

Otherwise I use Arm and Hammer laundry detergent for sensitive skin on everything (bike and non-bike related). It's free of perfumes and dies and does the job pretty darn well I think.

Plus I figure if I tiny little box of arm & hammer baking soda can take the stink out of a refrigerator the laundry stuff has to mean business too

[BleeckerSt_Girl]

Everyone is different I guess...I had bought a jug of Ivory Snow detergent and DH and I simply could not STAND the smell of it! It was an unbearable yucky smell on our clothes afterwards to both of us. We could not even bear having the items in our bureau drawers next to other clothes after washing them in it.
We went back to Woolite on the gentle cycle in the machine. I suspect some people use too much, and that can leave some residue even after the rinse cycle. I am careful to use as per instructions and it seems to rinse out well.
So far so good for all our Lycra, Spandex, and merino wool items after 1 1/2 years of this....

[7rider]

I've been using Woolite in the washer - on delicate cycle - for years with no ill effects on my bike clothes (but not on wind- or water-resistant items, for which I use some stuff - can't recall the name - that I get from REI.). Some of my bike clothes are embarassingly old, but they keep hangin' in there.
I do, however, have a front load machine, which uses far less water than standard top-load machines - and thus, far less detergent - and is much more gentle on clothes due to the lack of the agitator or whatever the rotating thing is in the middle of the drum.
I also never put bike clothes in the dryer, but hang them all to dry.

[Dianyla]

I'm sensitive to dyes and stinks so I use fragrance/dye free detergent for everything, either All or Cheer brand. I use about 1/2 to 3/4 of the recommended quantity of detergent, also, since using the full amount usually results in residue on the clothing as it can't rinse fully.